America Movil profit drops as Mexico competition grows

The America Movil logo is seen on the wall of the reception area in the company’s corporate offices in Mexico City August 12, 2015. REUTERS/Henry Romero

America Movil said on Wednesday first-quarter profit fell more than 40 percent from a year ago, as mobile competition from AT&T Inc intensified in Mexico and it started paying rent on cell towers after a sweeping regulatory overhaul.

The 2013 overhaul was aimed at curbing America Movil’s 70 percent market share in Mexico by forcing it to share cell towers and other equipment with rivals, and letting them connect calls to its network for free.

The company, which had long dominated Latin American telecommunications, was pressured to spin off its cell towers in 2015 into a new company, which it now pays rent to. AT&T, which had been America Movil’s partner for more than two decades, entered Mexico’s market on its own in late 2014 by buying up the No. 3 and No. 4 carriers.

America Movil, controlled by the family of billionaire Carlos Slim, said in a statement that the margin on its Mexico earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) hit a new low of 35.7 percent in the first quarter. The margin has fallen every quarter since the reform.